Performances are open to the public. Tickets are on sale now for $12 per person and can be purchased by calling 410-293-TIXS (8497), or online at http://navyperforms.showare.com/.

Set in Baile Beag, an Irish-speaking town in 1833, “Translations” examines the confrontations between local community members and officers of the British Royal Engineers. The play also deals with a wide-range of issues, stretching from cross-cultural romance to language and communication to Irish history and cultural imperialism.

“In the play, one of the characters mentions that the process of mapping the region and making Irish place names sound more English is an ‘eviction of sorts,’ and what Friel's writing brilliantly does is show how the process of cultural genocide can feel both benign to the perpetrators and violent to the locals,” said Christy Stanlake, Naval Academy English Department associate professor.

“Lest the political aspects of the play feel too serious, Friel makes certain to include a love triangle and many humorous moments among the characters in Baile Beag,” said Stanlake.

The Masqueraders was officially founded in 1907 and is the oldest extracurricular activity at the Naval Academy. Each fall the Masqueraders produce one main-stage show, which is selected to support the curriculum of the academy’s English department. The group also performs a series of student-directed, one-act plays every spring.

Past fall performances have included “The Importance of Being Earnest,” “A Streetcar Named Desire,” and “Macbeth.” They also performed “Green Grown the Lilacs” at the Smithsonian’s Museum of the American Indian in November 2010. Their most recent plays have received 5-Star ratings from professional theatre reviewers across the DC and Baltimore regions.

The Naval Academy recommends that visitors attending the performances walk through Gate 3 (Maryland Ave.). Visitors may also walk through Gate 1 (King George St.). All visitors 18 years-of-age and older are required to show valid, government-issued picture ID. Drivers without Department of Defense I.D. are not permitted on the Naval Academy grounds. Handicapped visitors with proper decals are permitted through Gate 1 after a vehicle inspection. All bags are subject to search.